A former top aide to Stephen Harper says Marilyn Gladu's decision to leave the Conservative party for the Liberals weakens Pierre Poilievre's leadership. Dimitri Soudas, who was Stephen Harper's director of communications, says Gladu was a "true blue conservative" and her decision to leave caught people off guard. Gladu, who was elected as a Conservative MP four times, joined Prime...
Liberal party members are gathering in Montreal and, for the first time in more than a decade, Justin Trudeau and his personal brand of politics won't tower over the party's proceedings. Party faithful will gather as Mark Carney's ever-expanding big tent of MPs stands on the cusp of achieving a majority government following a series of floor-crossings in Parliament. The...
Liberals are gathering in Montreal for the next few days, buzzing on a fifth floor-crossing and with a sought-after majority government in sight. While the official agenda is dotted with panels, speakers, policy discussions and campaign training, the three byelections set for Monday are expected to dominate conversations at the three-day event. The party is hoping those races will not...
Liberal MP Chris d’Entremont, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives in November, says current Conservative MPs have “absolutely” asked him what it’s like being a Liberal. “They want to know what the caucus structure is, what we talk about, what kind of input that we have in decision making,” d’Entremont told host Mike Le Couteur in an interview on...
Ontario Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu’s floor crossing gives the Liberals a virtual lock on a majority, and one that would allow them to do far more than simply survive confidence votes — because not all majorities are created equal. Two of the three April 13 contests — in the Toronto ridings of University–Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest — are widely considered...
This research gauged the opinions of Canadians on rising gas prices and the actions they are taking to in response and how the federal government should be responding.
After a period of relative stability, the latest wave of Abacus Data’s Ontario tracking finds renewed movement in the province’s political landscape, driven by a notable drop in Progressive Conservative support, continued erosion in Premier Doug Ford’s personal standing, and a meaningful uptick for the NDP. While the PCs remain in first place, their advantage has narrowed and the broader...
My jaw is on the floor. Marilyn Gladu just crossed the aisle to the Liberals, and I am struggling to find the structural logic in a move this cold. As a veteran strategist and former National Campaign Manager, I’ve been involved with backroom politics for so long it’s fair to say the majority of my adult life has been lived...
Canadians rank cutting fuel taxes as the No. 1 action Prime Minister Mark Carney should take to offset higher gasoline prices. Nearly 39% of respondents listed a reduction in fuel-related taxes as their preferred course of action from the federal government, according to a Nanos Research Group survey for Bloomberg News. Increasing “investment in long-term energy alternatives” was the second...
The Alberta government reiterated Wednesday that it will not be removing its provincial gas tax before Canada Day at the soonest, as federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the federal government to suspend its own levies drivers pay at the pump. Poilievre made the appeal via an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney published Tuesday afternoon on social...
There has been a lot of debate in recent weeks about the province’s decision to take over the City of Toronto’s role in the agreement governing Billy Bishop Airport and to acquire the city-owned lands at the airport. Some have asked why the province would take such a step. The answer is that Billy Bishop is a critical piece of...
I have an urgent request for Prime Minister Mark Carney: please come to Vaughan, Ont., to meet with our Jewish community. As Vaughan’s mayor, I want you to know that Jews here feel angry, scared, defiant, tired, shocked and beleaguered. Who can blame them? I’ve lived my entire life in this country, but I have never before witnessed the shocking...
With one warm floor-crossing welcome, Prime Minister Mark Carney challenged Wednesday what it means to be a Liberal, gave his primary opponent a big wake-up call, and planted the seeds for simmering caucus discontent. A day before Liberals gather in Montreal for their biennial convention — Carney’s first as leader — the prime minister embraced four-term Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong Conservative MP Marilyn...
Sarnia Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu backed the trucker blockade in Ottawa, along with a bill that would force floor-crossers to quit and run again. On Wednesday, however, she crossed the floor to become a newly-minted Liberal for Prime Minister Mark Carney — the fifth of her kind. There’s no quit in this politician. A less obvious Liberal than Gladu you...
During his brief and ill-fated time as leader of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff invited Canadians to join him inside the "big red tent." This appeal obviously did not work out for Ignatieff. But perhaps he was merely ahead of his time. Fifteen years after Ignatieff's time as Liberal leader came to a sudden end, Mark Carney is exploring just...
The news that Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is crossing the floor to join the Liberal caucus, effectively guaranteeing Prime Minister Mark Carney a parliamentary majority, has not been hailed universally by her constituents. “She thinks she knows better than her voters?” said one resident of Sarnia–Lambton–Bkejwanong on social media. “What is the flipping point? You wonder why people get radicalized...
Of all the floor-crossers who’ve inched Prime Minister Mark Carney closer to a majority in the past six months, Marilyn Gladu won the award Wednesday for generating the most spit-takes. Just in time to attend the Liberal Party National Convention in Montreal this weekend, Gladu — a very Conservative member of Parliament since 2015 — announced that she had defected...
It was during the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio on hardcore pornographers that Justice Potter Stewart famously offered as a threshold test for obscenity: “I know it when I see it.”
“The whole point of being an MP is to represent your constituents,” a Conservative MP told a local Ontario newspaper back in January, when she backed a call for automatic by-elections following an MP’s defection. “So if they’re voting you in under one platform,” she continued, “for you to switch for whatever reasons, just seems to me to not be...
Down the street from the House of Commons, a parliamentary crisis unfolds. This drama doesn’t involve misconduct; the fate of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government doesn’t hang in the balance. Most visibly, it’s a clash between senators who believe their duty is to act — to fully study government legislation and recommend changes — and others who believe they shouldn’t...
Almost since its inception, the Senate of Canada has been the subject of proposals for reform. Now there are the first faint stirrings of a new movement: Senate unreform. Ten years after Justin Trudeau introduced his “merit-based, non-partisan” process for appointing senators there are whispers that the whole thing might be about to be called off. The Globe and Mail...
Jamieson Greer stands like Mount Olympus above the intellectual molehills of his cabinet-level colleagues, to such an extent that one worries for his welfare in the Trump administration. The U.S. Trade Representative spoke at the Hudson Institute think tank on Tuesday, and such was his coherence it was almost possible to set aside that his boss had just threatened to...
One voter expectation trumps all others today: trust. You can be charismatic, intelligent, a good orator and attractive, but if voters don’t feel confident that you are worthy of their trust, go home.
As the world absorbed this morning the good news that Persian civilization has not been obliterated per an apparent nuclear threat issued by an American president to end an avoidable war he started, the question remains of “What just happened?”. In superficial terms, what just happened was an unjustified war in the Middle East launched by an American president acting...
The dam has burst. Rigid messaging is ending. Long live the give-and-take of conversation. SUDDENLY, OUR POLITICS is all about the written and spoken word. Not so long ago, we had a prime minister who did his best to hide for weeks and an opposition leader who refused to take reporters with him on a national campaign. Now, the newish...
Last summer, Canada’s Supreme Court sent an inadvertent message to all young offenders in Canada: you will almost certainly never be sentenced as an adult. Even before the Court released its judgement in R v. I.M., which changed the standard for which youth can be sentenced as adults, it was already true that young offenders would be treated more leniently...
There are always moments in politics when the conditions align for a breakthrough. When public frustration, economic uncertainty and political realignment create an opening for a party to redefine itself and capture the national mood. Since Prime Minister Mark Carney took over the helm of the federal Liberal Party more than a year ago, we’ve witnessed a sweeping transformation of...
The most basic problem now confronting Donald Trump isn’t a matter of complex geopolitics. It’s more a simple matter of talent. The U.S. president, as much as many people hate to admit it, does have some real talents. He’s a natural showman. He’s a talented negotiator. And, as commander in chief of the world’s greatest military, he has a lot...
Donald Trump’s views on Canadian sovereignty appear to be constantly in motion, weaving back and forth like his social-media feed. Thanks to a British author, we learned this week that all the 51st-state talk is now on the back burner for two reasons: one lies in Trump’s respect for King Charles, and, maybe more significantly, the president doesn’t have enough...
If you want to understand the real tragedy of the recent NDP leadership convention, don’t just look at the winner (which I’ve done). Look at the wreckage of the coalition left behind on the convention floor. Historically, the NDP was built on a very specific, carefully balanced three-legged stool: the eco-radical hippies (your vegans and pipeline protesters), the out-of-touch champagne...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith just can’t seem to stop satisfying her demanding, needy base with one gift after another. Public libraries, the heart of every community, are the latest to be attacked. Her government introduced legislation last week that would make it difficult for young people to get hold of what it calls “pornographic” material they think young people shouldn’t...
Canada’s finance minister was in Beijing late last week looking to deepen financial sector ties with China. Francois-Philippe Champagne said he was building on the strategic partnership deal signed between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping “with eyes wide open.”
Mark Carney seemed especially keen last week to quash any speculation that he intended to shut down Parliament and deliver a new throne speech in the near future. “It has never even entered my thinking, the possibility of that,” Carney replied, when asked about the rumours, which first appeared in The Globe and Mail.
The last time a Liberal represented Terrebonne in Ottawa, Jimmy Carter was in the White House and a 9-year-old named Justin Trudeau spent his days running around the grounds at 24 Sussex. Provincially, the Liberal Party of Quebec last won it in 1973. That’s not just trivia. It tells you how unnatural this moment is.
Long before his convincing victory last week, Avi Lewis, the brand new federal New Democratic Party leader, was widely portrayed as too “radical” for the country, for his party, for the times. He would doom the NDP to further irrelevance, torpedo the electoral prospects of provincial NDP premiers and party leaders, frighten ordinary voters with his “wild-eyed” ideas and intemperate...
By the time you read this, U.S. armed forces may well have launched a ground war in Iran. Or they may have begun to withdraw from the region and go home. There could be a ceasefire, in exchange for Iran’s agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz. Or the war could have escalated further, with stepped-up U.S. attacks on Iranian...
Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu left the Conservative caucus to join Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals on Wednesday, pushing the government closer to a majority ahead of three byelections next week. Carney welcomed her to the caucus in a meeting at his office Wednesday afternoon. "I couldn't be happier," he said alongside a smiling Gladu. He said Gladu was "one of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney praised astronaut Jeremy Hansen during a call with the Artemis II crew on Wednesday, saying he was proud to see a Canadian in space and to hear French spoken. Carney called the mission "hugely inspiring" and said Canadians couldn't be more proud of Hansen and the collaboration with the United States. "We look forward to seeing...
Pollara chief strategy officer Dan Arnold says the numbers are likely a reflection that separation talk is becoming more mainstream
Thousands of Liberals are arriving in Montreal for their annual convention with a spring in their step following news of a fifth-floor crosser in just over five months. The 2026 Montreal convention was advertised as an opportunity to chart the party’s course. Liberal strategists expect the three-day convention will focus less on policy and more on building momentum ahead of...
The policy debate at the Grits' upcoming convention seems intentionally designed to avoid being a distraction from the party’s core messaging as it sits on the cusp of a majority, but it's also not time for a victory lap, say observers. As Liberals from across Canada descend on Montreal this week, observers expect the party’s national convention to be light...
Deputy minister of national defence Christiane Fox broke conflict of interest rules by hiring an old acquaintance when she was the deputy immigration minister, the federal ethics watchdog has found. Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein published an investigation on Wednesday finding that Fox improperly influenced her department to hire Björn Charles in March 2023. Fox sent...
Dissatisfaction and worries about their future under Poilievre’s leadership has many questioning whether or not a bolder move to spark change is required. Up to 40 Conservative MPs are worried that they could lose their seats if Pierre Poilievre leads the party into the next election against Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, said two federal Conservative sources after the party...
Thousands of federal public servants have applied for early retirement since the program was launched late last month. Mohammad Kamal, spokesperson for the Office of the President of the Treasury Board, says 3,700 federal workers have applied for the program. The program, which was announced in the fall, is part of the government's efforts to reduce the number of public...
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold. The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and nine European leaders issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they welcome the reported two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The deal was announced Tuesday evening after President Donald Trump threatened that "a whole civilization" would "die" if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial shipping lane -- was not...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's communications director Katy Merrifield is resigning. Merrifield announced her departure in an email sent to the Conservative caucus Tuesday, adding her last day working in the Opposition Leader's Office will be Friday. The message says Micah Green will become the new communications director and Sam Lilly will be the new media relations director.
The office of the federal ethics commissioner says Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s personal relationship with a senior manager at the Crown corporation responsible for building high-speed rail does not constitute a conflict of interest. In an email seen by CTV News, an adviser from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (OCIEC) stated that “there is no...
The federal government says it will not renew funding next year for an initiative launched to help hire more diverse journalists and support those entering the screen industry. It says changes will also be coming to a program dedicated to funding projects meant to help combat online disinformation, with several millions in grants to be held back. The cuts come...
OTTAWA -- Thousands of Liberals will be in Montreal this weekend for the party's annual convention just as voters in the suburban riding of Terrebonne, about 40 km north, get ready to cast ballots in a key byelection on Monday.
The Canadian military is studying what kind of tanks and armoured troop carriers it will need in the future and how quickly those projects can and will be advanced, says the commander of the army. An internal presentation, delivered to a closed-door audience in the United Kingdom last winter, suggested the timelines for buying new armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and...
China Labour Watch interviewed 50 workers at BYD facility in Hungary. As Canada lowers its tariffs and imports more electric vehicles from China, an upcoming report from New York-based labour rights researchers is making new allegations of forced labour practices at the world's bestselling EV manufacturer, BYD. China Labor Watch (CLW) received a complaint last fall from one of the...
Housing minister says 'we can get a lot done' with a win in Terrebonne. Federal Liberals are throwing all they can at the Quebec riding of Terrebonne ahead of Monday's byelection, sending more than 25 MPs and members of cabinet in recent weeks to pound the pavement in what one minister is calling a "consequential" race. "We can get a...
One of Canada’s leading economists is warning that the country’s already historic federal deficit is on pace to top $100 billion in the next decade. University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe writes in a new study for the Montreal Economic Institute that, if current fiscal policy holds, the baseline federal deficit will grow to $117 billion by 2035.
Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th-hour deal that allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to pull back from his threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. Hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday. It was not clear if the sporadic attacks would be enough...
Finance minister's partner is a VP of company running government-funded project. The Conservative Party is calling on the House of Commons ethics watchdog to launch an investigation into whether Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne breached ethics rules regarding his partner's involvement in a federal government-funded high speed rail project. In a letter to Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von...
Almost 38,000 people voted in the advance polls in three byelections that could give Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals a majority government, with the highest advance turnout in Terrebonne. Preliminary data from Elections Canada says 18,200 people in the Quebec riding cast ballots in advance elections, which amounts to almost 20 per cent of people on the voters' list. The...
A week after the federal and Ontario governments announced they would cut the HST for new homes bought in Ontario for a year, the federal housing minister said he is in talks to expand the initiative. “We are in discussions with all of the provinces and territories about taking down the GST for one year on new home purchases,” Housing...
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says while it’s unlikely the U.S. administration will hash out all of its trade issues with Canada and Mexico by July 1, he’s optimistic they’ll be resolved as soon as possible. “I think that we aren’t probably going to be able to resolve all issues by July 1, but I think we are on track...
Conservative MP Mike Dawson is continuing his fight against accepting the annual pay raise, and says the issue will be discussed at this month’s Commons Board of Internal Economy meeting. Meanwhile, former Liberal MP Joe Jordan says competitive salaries are critical to attract top talent to Parliament.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said leaders involved in the war in Iran must "choose their words" and act prudently, while not specifically criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for his recent inflammatory threats of potential American military action. Trump said in a post on Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if a deal...
Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery shortened the amount of time Elections Alberta has to penalize political finance violations while his friend and relative Sam Mraiche was under investigation by the regulator, a Globe and Mail investigation has found. In May, 2025, Mr. Amery pushed through a series of amendments he said would “strengthen public trust” in the integrity of the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s government, keen to improve its standing in the public’s eyes when it comes to law and order issues, ordered up several taxpayer-funded polls late last year to take stock of how Canadians view their work on justice issues and identify their priorities when it comes to fighting crime.
The federal government is spending $412.9 million over five years to renew the Pacific Salmon Strategy in a plan to protect and rebuild the wild populations. Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson made the announcement in North Vancouver today, saying in a statement that the first five years of the initiative has shown what is possible when partners work together to restore...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government is looking at how to support Canadians as oil prices rise amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, averaging more than $1.80 per litre across Canada today, compared with about $1.32 a year ago. Carney says his...
Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end “a whole civilization” in Iran with a deadly bombing planned today, Prime Minister Mark Carney urged “all parties” in the Middle East crisis to respect international law on war and humanitarian protections. Responding to media questions about Trump’s threat against Iran that warned “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to...
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- As students banged on desks and stomped their feet inside a packed lecture hall at the University of Michigan, someone decades older stood in the back, quietly taking in the scene.
Security spending for congressional and presidential campaigns has jumped fivefold over the past decade as an increasingly hostile political environment has led to escalating threats against public officials, ranging from doxing to assassination plots, according to a report released Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a new podcast that he says will begin "a new era of radical transparency in government," according to a teaser video first obtained by The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The president who yearned for a Nobel Peace Prize and once reveled in the appearance of solving conflicts has turned to the language of annihilation as he struggles to find a resolution to his war of choice in Iran.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold. The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and nine European leaders issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they welcome the reported two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The deal was announced Tuesday evening after President Donald Trump threatened that "a whole civilization" would "die" if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial shipping lane -- was not...
Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th-hour deal that allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to pull back from his threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. Hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday. It was not clear if the sporadic attacks would be enough...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said leaders involved in the war in Iran must "choose their words" and act prudently, while not specifically criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for his recent inflammatory threats of potential American military action. Trump said in a post on Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if a deal...
Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end “a whole civilization” in Iran with a deadly bombing planned today, Prime Minister Mark Carney urged “all parties” in the Middle East crisis to respect international law on war and humanitarian protections. Responding to media questions about Trump’s threat against Iran that warned “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to...
ICYMI, things aren’t going so good for The Donald. In the “you broke it, you bought it” department, he’s trying to offload a property (the Iran War), bought on spec and not living up to promise, onto a new set of investors (specifically naming China, France, Japan, and South Korea). Turns out they aren’t all that interested in the property...
The controversy around Liberal MP Michael Ma’s comments on forced labour in China is an early test of how Prime Minister Mark Carney’s China policy is being put into practice — and whether it can remain pragmatic without drifting into equivocation, accommodation or self-censorship. Carney’s recalibration — toward a more interest-based approach aimed at stabilizing ties with Beijing while widening...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office wants to bust up a monopoly. I think I’m the target. Let me explain. The Privy Council Office (PCO), home of the prime minister and cabinet, has been flooded with complaints about its failures to comply with the Access to Information Act.
Canadian troops may be only days away from deploying to the Middle East to aid the U.S.’s and Israel’s war on Iran. The latest indication is a joint statement expressing concern about Iran’s restriction of oil tankers through the narrow Strait of Hormuz signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO allies late in the week.
Canadians who have neglected to pay their taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have been coming forward in droves to take advantage of new amnesty rules.
After the U.S., Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday night, oil prices eased on Wednesday. Many details of the ceasefire remain unclear – including when and how the Strait of Hormuz will become passable again. Since the effective closure of the Strait, the rising cost of oil has been impacting prices across a number of industries –...
A barely-existent ceasefire, and the paralysis of hundreds of ships. The state of the Iran - US Israel war remains muggy, even a day after the three agreed to a two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It comes after US President Trump threatened to wipe out 'an entire civilization' if the strait wasn't opened. And although...
It was rumoured to be in the offing, but on Wednesday news came of the surprising floor-crossing of Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu from the Conservatives to the Liberals, putting Mark Carney’s government even closer to a majority. We started the podcast unaware of the news, but we eventually offer some hot takes on the crossing minutes after it was announced...
